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Here at Food52, we love recipes -- but do we always use them? Of course not. Because once you realize you don't always need a recipe, you'll make your favorite dishes a lot more often.

Today: Easy going, customizable eggs in 5 steps.

When it comes to eggs, everyone has a back-pocket technique. Hard boiled? Soft? The eight-page Julia Child omelette method? (Slow, impressed clap to you.) Whatever your go-to, if you're not baking eggs already, you may want to start.

Also known as eggs en cocotte, or coddled eggs, baked eggs are simple, rustic, and the perfect way to use up leftovers lingering in your fridge. And don't worry about whether the key to omelette-folding is all in the wrist -- baked eggs are hands-off, and require only that you serve crusty bread alongside. Now make yourself some coffee, and sit down at the table. Your eggs will be ready in 12 minutes.

How to Make Baked Eggs in 5 Steps

1. Baked eggs are wonderful not only for their ease but also for the amount and variety of vegetables you can tuck in to bake with them. Step one: ready those vegetables. Have leftovers? Use them here. If not, sauté whatever you like. We don't have to tell you to season here.

2. While everything gets all slouchy, butter your ramekins. Cast iron skillets work well for more eggs, as do casserole dishes.

3. Now fill them with your vegetables. Just pile everything in -- baked eggs are an exercise in layering. Add smoked salmon if you, like us, are feeling fancy. This is also where you'll add your optional dairy: cheese is a no-brainer, or try cream or yogurt.

4. Crack the eggs! The number to use will depend on the size of your vessel -- these little ramekins can handle two. Add more cheese on top if you're so inclined, and always salt and pepper.

5. And finally, bake. Slip the ramekins (or casserole or skillet) onto a baking sheet and into a 400-degree oven for about 12 minutes, or until the whites are set but the yolks are still runny. Now wasn't that easy?

I have a thing for most foods topped with a fried egg, a strange disdain for overly soupy tomato sauce, and I can never make it home without ripping off the end of a newly-bought baguette. I like spoons very much.

Comments (24)

I love the Baked Egg recipe in Barefoot in Paris. You begin by placing a little heavy cream and butter in a shallow ramekin and bake until they are beginning to bubble and brown. Add eggs and whatever cheese & herbs you like and return to the oven until baked just the way you like them (usually not more than 6 minutes). The original recipe calls for using the broiler but I prefer to bake them at 375. I've done this recipe using cooked bacon pieces and potatoes or lightly steamed and seasoned asparagus and it's always great. Thursday is our egg night and I look forward to it all week. It's the one day I don't have to think about what's for dinner.

I tried to make this today and it did not work out at all. 22 minutes later (in the oven) and my yolk was WAY over cooked and the white still runny. I don't know what went wrong. The oven was at 400 and I only put spinach in it with a little salt and pepper, then the 2 eggs on top. I started with 12 minutes, then added 3 to that, then 3 to that until it was 22 minutes total and finally I decided to just suck it up and eat it (even though I hate runny whites) but the yolk was so hard I couldn't even eat it.

I like Gorumand1209's idea of using a Bundt pan. Bain marie is a a bit of a pain but necessary for some recipes. I love this idea only I don't have any ramekins which is why I like a Bundt. It would be great to not scramble the eggs for the Bundt. I love a soft boiled or coddled egg like my mama used to make. What comfort food. Thanks for this great idea and this is just the excuse I need to buy ramekins. Have to make these in the fall though since temps are in the triple digits currently. Thanks again!

Here we used arugula and leeks -- but feel free to switch it up! Onion and spinach work instead, and I've taken a page out of fiveandspice's book and used root vegetables like sweet potatoes and parsnips, too. Canned tomatoes work. Brussels sprouts work. Experiment! Have fun!

Whoa! Bain marie (boiling temperature) v. a dry temperature of about 400 F! Someone do the experiment for us and report back on the quality of the vegetables, the eggs, and the cheese. I used to coddle a lot of eggs but stopped when I found the bain marie a pain in the neck.

Dad had a recipe (sorry) for Baked Scramble Eggs that we still use today. It is easy, good, leftovers work good on a sandwich with ham or bacon or heat up great In the microwave. I have never seen anything close to it until now.

Eggs are beaten with salt, pepper and milk. Then add parsley flakes, then cheese and poor into buttered bunt pan and bake in 350 degree oven for 30 min or until a knife inserted comes out clean. Then turn over on plate and serve.

Surprised I haven't seen this all over with some very common name. Is there a common name for this? Is this a common dish?

Oh, interesting. I usually bake eggs at 400 F (like is says above), which is a great temperature to get the outsides of the eggs cooked and melt the cheese, but still leave the yolks runny. Try that and let me know if it works for you!

Cooks Illustrated had a recipe where they first heated a creamed spinach (I think) in the ramekin and cracked the egg into it so the whites would have more heat to start with. The dishes are removed when the inner white is just barely jiggly and the residual heat finishes cooking on the way to the table.